Comments

Hi Tony, I have acquired a single poke milkweed plant from another Monarch gardener in my area. I am curious if it is a self fertile plant. It is a first year plant so I’m sure it will be 1 or even 2 more years before I have my own seed supply. Keep up the good work!

I have poke milkweed pods my husband picked before they burst open. He thought he was doing me a favor by doing so. Will the seeds/pods mature even though they have already been picked off the plant? I looked at one of the pods and the seeds are white and I pretty sure they are suppose to be brown seeds.

I have wild milkweed that comes up every year within my shrubs behind my house. I have never seen it bloom until this year after cutting it back. The blooms were small, white, and didn’t last long. The seed pods look like string beans! Is this common milkweed?

All of my poke milkweed is turning yellow, and eventually the leaves are just falling off. New growth out of the ground looks fine so far, but what was originally on the plant when I transplanted them is all dying – even the flowers just shrivel and fall off without forming a pod. Is it possible they are getting too much shade? The one in the darkest spot was the first to go. The ground is moist, so perhaps the problem is too much water? Any ideas?

Hi Jessica, this is the first year we’ve had mature poke milkweed since putting up rabbit fencing. It’s fading very early and already has milkweed pods. I am going to try cutting some of it back to see if it puts out new growth, but this seems like a milkweed species that probably peaks in spring. If yours isn’t forming any pods, you might try transplanting some to a sunnier spot. good luck!

Do you have photos of polk milkweed seedlings? I started a lot of natives from seed, but my tags did not stand up to winter weather so I don’t know what’s what. Have some common milkweed in the mix, too. Going to be working on a monarch waystation shortly.

I read your comment about your plant tags not holding up. May I suggest you give tags made from the plastic (or even the aluminum) mini blinds a try. The material is easily cut with a pair of scissors, you can cut them to any length, make one end pointed if you like and if you use a dark carbon lead pencil to write with on these home made plant markers, the writing will hold up through the seasons. Some people use a paint pen, which works beautifully, but they are a bit costly and for me, dry out during a season once they’ve been opened. Pencil works very well for me.

A small plastic mini blind can be purchased from Wal-Mart for less than $3.00. This one small blind will make many, many markers at a fraction of the cost of purchased plant markers. I live in the hot SE and these markers last well for me.

There is also an excellent thread on the Houzz garden forum (used to be GardenWeb) where many different suggestions are offered. Gardeners are a clever group! 🙂

Hi Laurel, we grow swamp milkweed in partial shade…that’s a popular host and nectar plant for monarchs. Verbena bonariensis grows well in part shade too. We recently moved a joe pye weed into partial shade and it seems happy in its new location. Hope one of those ideas works for you…

Hi, aphids are a pest on most varieties of milkweed, but less so on a variety like Tuberosa, which doesn’t contain the milky sap they are seeking. We will have mature poke milkweed this season, and I will be sure to update any aphid info. If you want to try to repel them naturally, you might try using allium as a companion plant:

Tony, Your picture of the Poke milkweed is wonderful! May I have your permission to include it in the Power Point I am creating on butterfly gardening?

I love your instructions for winter planting milkweed seeds in milk jugs. I did it last winter and had great success. Presently, I have a dozen jugs sitting in a snow bank….last weekend’s snowfall buried them! Wish I had some Poke MW seeds to plant!!!

are you asking if poke milkweed can be grown with pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)? If so, I’ve never grown pokeweed so the all I can recommend is that you try adding a couple poke milkweeds and see how they fare. You can always transplant later if the experiment isn’t successful…good luck!

can I dig poke milk weed and transplant? It is now September 2,2014 and I am in Ohio…………I just found a plant growing under one of my trees. I would like to keep it to add to next years garden. Thank you for any info.

I am actually transplanting ours because they got swallowed up by the Mexican sunflowers. Fall is a good time for planting and transplanting because the extreme heat has subsided, but there’s still room for roots to get acclimated. Make sure you dig deep enough to get the entire root system (or most of it). Make sure the soil remains moist for the first couple weeks after transplanting. If the plants still look stressed after a few days, you can also cut stems and foliage back. If the plants are mature, try cutting stems and foliage back (and water thoroughly) a couple days before transplanting.